Trust Me (WLB)
Trust Me is the fourth episode and the mid-season premiere of the first season of World Left Behind. Synopsis Cheryl and the others are faced with an impossible decision after being discovered in the hospital. Back at the hotel, Kevin and Ryan butt heads and they struggle to reach an agreement. Plot Cheryl stands frozen, holding her arms up as a gun is held in front of her. The man threatening her tightens his grip on the weapon. "So, first question, you alone?" He mutters, glaring at Cheryl. Cheryl's eyes flickered to the door she had come through. "Y-yes." Cheryl stutters "I'm alone. I got separated from my group and was loo-" The man shushes her. "I didn't ask for your entire life story. Next question, did you turn on the lights?" Cheryl thinks back to when the group first entered the building, she flicked on the lights without a second thought. "Y-yes I did." She replies "But I had no idea that there were others here." "Of course there are others here!" The man growls "The world has ended, and yet those who were sick before still remain sick. Not for much longer with what you did." Cheryl opens her mouth to respond, however before she can the door opens and Greg speeds in. "Cheryl what's taking you so lon-" Before Greg can notice the stranger, the man aims his gun at him. Cheryl cries out a warning but it's too late. A shot rings out and Greg's body crashes to the ground, a pool of blood trickling from the hole in his skull. Cheryl throws a hand over her mouth, choking back a sob as tears form at her eyes. Seconds later, Sierra and Charles burst into the room. Sierra immediately takes note of Greg's body and screams. Charles looks at the stranger in rage. "What the hell happened?!" He yells. The man holds his gun to the three in warning. "I can hurt all of you before you can reach me. Now, you're going to come with me to answer for what you did." --- Back at the hotel, Madison leads Cynthia, Victoria and Maya to the large group gathering at the doors. There is an evident split in the group with Kevin and Ryan at the front of each group. "This is a bad idea, how many times do I have to tell you?" Kevin says, rolling his eyes. "How would you know?!" Ryan responds, glaring at him "No one has ever experienced a situation like this. We have no idea if it's safer outside the city than here." "At least we know we're safe and those things can't get in!" Kevin shoots back, meeting Ryan's glare. "What about when we run out of food then? Or if someone gets sick? What if we go out, lead a group of those... things back here and get overrun?" Ryan asks, looking around at the other group. Mark sighs next to Kevin. "Ryan, please stop this. We have clear exits in here. Outside you never know what could be around the corner." Cynthia storms between the groups and looks at each of them. "What the hell is going on here?!" She asks. "Ryan is acting like an idiot and is trying to get all these people to leave." Kevin replies, gesturing to the other group. "He isn't forcing us." One man, Max, argues. "We want to leave because we know that we're just sitting here waiting to die." "Wait, what?" Cynthia says, incredulously "Y-you are safe here. The doors are locked, nothing can get in!" Ryan scoffs "That doesn't prevent it from happening ever!" "What do you think happened to the rest of our group?" Aria questions, finally speaking up. "Rest of your group?" Maya asks, looking at Aria. "Do you really think there was only five of us plus two teachers? We were a larger group, on a school trip." Ryan replies "Everyone was advised to head to the airport to wait for a flight home. My ex, Matt kept insisting that we went and followed with what people were saying. Everyone agreed, refusing to listen to Mr. West, even though he was in charge of our group. A bunch of them just decided to leave. We instead chose to come here." "So, you came here to stay safe... yet now you want to leave?" Victoria repeats, looking at Ryan in confusion. Ryan rolls his eyes, “We came here because it was our only option at the time. Now? With whatever’s going on out there? I’m not so sure that we don’t have others.” “Ryan please.” Mark says, stepping forward “We must stick together right now, if we all split up then that just leaves less of us to fight together.” “Well you can stay here with you little teamwork lovers sir, I’d rather be able to have an entire world to escape from those things.” Ryan snaps in reply. “Now, whoever wants to join us go and grab what you need.” Ryan then turns away from Mark and to his own group, he narrows his eyes in thought before turning to the kitchen. “Whatever you need.” --- Cheryl, Sierra and Charles walk in silence in front of their captor through the messy, dimly lit halls of the hospital. Despite the generator being on, lights continue to flicker and some even hang from the ceiling. Pushing through a set of double doors, the trio are met with chaos. Floods of doctors and nurses hurry around a room full of makeshift hospital beds and other survivors. Many are working on the machines whereas others check on patients. “What happened here?” Cheryl asks, turning to the man behind her. “We were trying to save power… turning off some parts of the hospital, using less electricity for lights and water. Trying to keep comatose patients alive.” The man replies, glaring intently at Cheryl who gulps, avoiding eye contact. “Oh… my God, I am so sorry I-” Cheryl apologises, however she is cut off by a young woman storming up to the stranger. She had long brunette hair just below her shoulders. Her brown eyes were puffy, clearly from crying. “Is this them?” she asks in a shaky voice, “Are they the ones who did it?” The man takes a deep breath “Yes Sara, they-” Sara shakes her head and glares at Cheryl before focusing on the man “You can’t do it, Salvador, please you can’t make them choose.” “Choose? Choose what?” Sierra interjects. Sara and Salvador turn to her. Sara’s fist tightens around a small chained necklace wrapped in her hand, she looks down at the floor, blinking away tears. “Like I said, we were trying to save power, but with your little stunt. I have no idea how we’re gonna keep all the life support machines running.” Salvador explains grimly “Unfortunately, the only way to make sure as many of them stay operational as possible… is to choose some to turn off.” Cheryl gasps softly. She didn’t just waste power for the hospital, but now she’s put lives at risk. Her eyes flick to Sara who is still facing the floor. “Sara? I had no idea that there was anyone else here, if I’d known-” Cheryl hadn’t meant to upset her further, but the slap across her face clearly said otherwise. Her jaw dropped as her hand met her burning cheek. As it came away, there was a small stain of blood against her palm. “Don’t you DARE apologise to me!” Sara cries hysterically. Salvador places his hands on her shoulders and looks to the trio. “I’d strongly suggest you find somewhere to sit down and wait until I figure out how many machines you’re turning off today.” Salvador then guides Sara away from the group, whispering quietly to comfort her. Cheryl shares a look with Sierra, who then glances around the room at all of the patients. She then turns to Charles whose face is plastered with an unreadable expression. “C’mon, there’s an empty table over there. I doubt anyone would want us joining them.” He grunts as he makes his way to a small, empty table in the corner. Cheryl and Sierra follow, making sure to avoid any survivors who have taken refuge on the floor. --- A middle-aged woman in a purple blouse slams a large box on the desk at the reception of the hotel. She has long brown hair with blonde highlights and sharp, blue eyes. Her face is plastered with a frown as she fills the box with items from the desk. Her eyes catch a set of keys sitting on the counter, she glances around before reaching for them. “Stop!” A voice calls out in alarm from across the room. The woman flinches back and turns to the source. Maya comes storming across the room, glaring at the woman. “Traci you can’t take those! They’re mine.” She says sternly. Traci gulps before putting on a smile and replying in a shaky voice, “O-oh! Of course, Maya! I would never have taken them if I’d known they already belonged to someone.” Maya narrows her eyes and snatches the keys from the counter. She makes one last glare at Traci before storming away. Traci watches her go before the smile wipes of her face, she turns and marches around the desk to a small cupboard. She opens it and peeks over the top at Cynthia who is preoccupied arguing with Max, who’s trying to take hotel blankets with him. Traci smirks and grabs a small key from a hook labeled “Defense”. --- “Come on Andrea, you can do better than that!” “Yeah if you slowed down for once!” Cheryl smiles sadly at her phone, watching the video play out before her. She breathes out a hollow laugh as her daughter, Andrea, continues to be taunted by her best friend, Heather. The camera then turns to focus on Simon, Cheryl’s husband. He grins at her as he places some food onto a barbeque. “Come on, get in here!” He calls to the camera “I don’t wanna seem lonely, do I?” A chuckle is heard off-screen before the camera pans round to Cheryl filming herself next to her husband, who she then pecks on the cheek. The video ends and Cheryl inhales deeply. This is fine. she thinks Wherever they are, they’re okay. You’ll find them. She is shaken out of her thoughts by Salvador who dumps a large pile of files onto the table. Sierra and Charles also seem to be brought to attention. “Choose 10.” Salvador mutters “Get back to me when you do.” “Wait, are we even allowed to see these?” Sierra replies. “Who’s gonna arrest me?” Salvador shoots back before wandering off into the crowds of survivors. Sierra glances at Cheryl awkwardly, as if looking for any indication of what to do. However, Charles just reaches forward and grabs some from the pile. Sierra turns to him in confusion. “Are you seriously just gonna go along with this?” She asks. “Do you think they’re gonna let us leave any other way?” Charles retorts, opening a file. Sierra scoffs, “I understand that, but are you seriously willing to choose 10 people to die?” “If it gets me back to my daughter, then yeah.” Charles says matter of factly. Sierra shakes her head and carefully takes a file from the pile. She opens it and begins reading. Charles turns to Cheryl. “You’re the one who got us into this mess, you might as well help.” He glares. Cheryl nods and takes a look at her phone. She tries to turn it on, but nothing happens. After a few more attempts it becomes apparent that the battery is dead. Cheryl’s mouth hangs open as she blinks back tears. “Sorry, I need to excuse myself.” She says in a wobbly voice and rushes into a nearby bathroom. Once inside she grabs some tissue and begins to dab at her eyes, sniffling. The bathroom door creaks open as a young woman steps inside. She has long braided hair, each braid alternating between blonde and brunette. She wraps her camo jacket around herself as she notices Cheryl by the mirror. “Hey… you okay?” She asks in a quiet voice. Cheryl looks at her through the mirror and smiles grimly, “I’m not sure how I can be, with everything going on and all.” The girl breathes a hearty laugh and walks over to the mirror. “Honestly? This looks like something a lot worse than the world ending. I haven’t seen anyone cry in here for a good few hours, so I think it’s safe to say the shock has passed.” Cheryl looks to her again, before taking a deep breath and turning from the mirror to face the girl. She takes out her phone. “It’s my phone. It was all I had left of my family and now… it’s dead” The girl nods in understanding. She puts her hands on Cheryl’s shoulders and brushes the hair out of her face. “Well, I actually happen to have a charger lying around. I’m sure I could spare a few hours of time to charge it.” “Oh, thank you!” Cheryl smiles, hugging the girl. “What can I do in return…?” “Michaela,” The girl chuckles, introducing herself “and in return? I guess you could do me a favour with those files you’re reading through.” Cheryl’s face falls. Of course the only person to show me sympathy would want me to make sure their family doesn’t get hurt by this… She grimaces. “What’s their name? I’ll do what I can.” Cheryl says, handing her phone to Michaela. “Sam Hammond, and thank you. But it’s not what you think. I don’t want my grandfather to wake up to this world.” Michaela says, staring at the floor. “What?” Cheryl asks. Michaela closes her eyes and swallows before continuing. “He was already getting so weak before… a-and I don’t want my family stuck here, waiting for him to die. I know he wouldn’t want that for us either.” Michaela smiles softly to herself before looking up at Cheryl pleadingly. Cheryl puts on a faint smile in return. “I’ll see what I can do.” The woman then turns and leaves the bathroom, making her way back to the table. She smiles at Sierra and Charles as she sits down. --- An empty room is seen. The lights are off and a small table sits in the middle of the room with a map spread out across it. The door slowly opens and Traci tiptoes into the room, holding her stolen keys. She glances around and notices a metal cabinet in the back corner of the room. Closing the door softly behind her, she makes her way towards it and puts the key in the lock. She smiles and breathes a sigh of relief as it turns, the doors fly open and she is met with three handguns hanging in the cabinet. Traci’s eyes widen and she turns back to the door, poking her head into the hallway before spotting someone. “Max!” She whispers. The man looks around in confusion before spotting her. “Traci? What’re you doing?” Traci gestures for Max to come into the room, once he’s inside she shows him the guns. “Do you know how to use them?” She asks. “Well, not really.” He replies, but notices Traci’s disappointed face. “I-I’m sure it isn’t that hard to just point and shoot, though!” Traci’s face quickly morphs into a smirk as she grabs one of the guns. Max grabs another but the two freeze as footsteps are heard down the hallway. “M-maybe we should leave one, just in case they need it.” Max suggests. Traci scoffs and rolls her eyes before snatching the remaining gun from the cabinet. “As if they’re gonna need it, they wanna stay here and die anyway.” The pair then swiftly lock the cabinet and retreat out of the room as if nothing had happened. --- “God damn it!” Sierra slams a file shut and pushes it across the table where a small pile is forming. She puts her head in her hands and sighs. “Are we seriously doing this? How are we supposed to read these and choose when they all have reasons to live?” “Sierra we don’t exactly have a choice. We could choose at random, but what if one of those patients had shown signs of improving? We need to check all of them equally.” Charles says, moving his file to a much smaller pile on the other side of the table. “To be fair Sierra, we’ve only put three into… that pile so far… We need to think about getting back to the hotel before it gets dark.” Cheryl says, placing a hand on Sierra’s shoulder comfortingly. Sierra shrugs her hand away and stands, huffing. “I need a drink.” She marches over to a nearby water fountain and quickly drinks from it. Afterwards she looks up to see an older woman with short blonde hair standing behind her. “Sorry.” Sierra smiles, stepping out of the way. The woman smiles back and steps forward, filling a cup with water. “It’s fine, I’ve waited longer trust me.” Sierra nods and grabs a paper cup from a pile by the water fountain. The woman steps out of her way and she begins to fill it. “So… are you staying here with family, or are you a new arrival?” The woman asks, looking around the room for anyone who may be related to Sierra. Sierra shakes her head, “I’m… new.” “Ah, I thought I didn’t recognise you.” The woman states, narrowing her eyes in curiosity. “You’re with the people who turned on the power, aren’t you?” Sierra’s face pales as she turns to the woman, who simply takes a drink with a knowing smile. Sierra looks behind her and sees Sara watching her like a hawk. “Listen, I am so sorry about… everything. Like we’ve been saying we had no idea that anyone else was here and-” Sierra begins to explain but she is quickly silenced by Mrs. Rutherford raising a hand. “Now, if I was out there, looking for supplies for my family? I can safely say I wouldn’t make the most rational decisions either. In fact, I don’t think anyone in this room would be looking out for strangers if we weren’t all stuck here together.” She chuckles. “I’m not going to pretend that I wouldn’t blame you if you put my daughter into your little… list, but you shouldn’t feel guilty for simply looking out for your family. If there’s anything last view days have shown me, it’s that I would do anything to keep my daughters healthy without any regard for those around me.” Mrs. Rutherford gives Sierra a comforting smile and rub on the arm before walking away back to Sara. Sierra watches her incredulously before lightly scoffing and wandering back to the others. “Who were you talking to?” Cheryl asks her as she takes a seat. “Sara’s mother. She basically told me not to feel guilty about causing this or… something?” Sierra replied. Cheryl turns around and looks to Sara, who is staring at a girl on the hospital bed in front of her with tear-filled eyes. Guilt washes Cheryl’s face. “That’s because you didn’t cause it.” She states grimly. --- Annie opens a cupboard in the kitchen of the hotel and is met with rows of canned food. “Guess they were planning for something.” She smirks to herself. She begins to remove cans from the shelves but stops short about halfway. As she reaches to another one, she hesitates. Annie looks down at her bag, now almost full of supplies before turning to leave. However, she accidentally bumps into Aria as she walks away. “Oh my God, I’m sorry!” She apologises. Aria simply rolls her eyes and looks behind Annie to the cupboard. “You weren’t planning on leaving those there, were you?” She snarls in an accusatory tone. Annie stutters, unable to form an excuse. Aria sighs and storms over to the cupboard, removing food from it. Once she is done, she turns back to Annie with a glare. “Now come on, we’re leaving.” She says as she walks out of the kitchen. Annie makes to follow but stops, reconsidering. She bites her lip and takes two cans out of her bag, hiding them in a draw next to her. She looks around the empty room with a frown before heading out to meet her friends. --- Cheryl tentatively steps over towards Sara, who is holding an unconscious girl’s hand firmly. Cheryl clears her throat, announcing her presence. Sara turns to her as her face twists in anger. “I really don’t think you should be here.” She says, turning back to the girl. “I know, I just wanted to apologise… again.” Cheryl replies, biting her lip. “Well, now you have. Bye.” Sara says. Cheryl takes a small step back before stopping herself and taking a seat next to Sara. Sara’s brows arch in confusion. “What are you-?” “I might have apologised, but I can actually explained why I turned on the lights without thinking.” Cheryl says. “We were looking for supplies for our friends. At this point, they’re all I have. I don’t know if I’ll ever see my husband or daughter again, or even if they’re alive. Every decision I’m making is so I can get one step closer to holding them again. If that means getting supplies to keep those close to me alive, then I had to take that chance.” Sara swallows and wipes her wet cheeks with her sleeves. She looks down at her hand clasped in the other girl’s. She sniffs and turns to Cheryl. “I guess I can understand that. I would do anything to see Hannah smile again.” She says, smiling slightly. Cheryl nods and stands to leave. “Thank you, for letting me explain.” Sara nods in response and Cheryl begins to wander back to her friends. She smiles to herself, finally content. --- Victoria, Cynthia and Maya stare helplessly as people to gather at the entrance of the hotel, each holding bags of supplies. Emma walks over to Mark, concerned. “Why don’t you have your things? We’re leaving any second!” She says, exasperated. Mark shakes his head solemnly, gesturing to his walking stick. “Me? With this thing? I’d only slow you down in the event of danger.” Emma does a double take. “We are not leaving you!” “Then don’t go.” Mark smiles. Emma stutters and turns to the others who are slowly parading out the doors. Turning back to Mark she frowns and sighs deeply. “I’m sorry.” Is all she can say before jogging after them. Kevin locks eyes with Ryan as he turns to the door. “Good luck.” He calls. Ryan looks taken aback before nodding and following his friends. The lobby then falls silent as those who remain look to each other with uncertainty. --- Sierra carefully closes her last folder and places it onto the pile in the middle of the table. She looks at Charles and Rebecca who had both finished minutes earlier. “So, what now?” She asks. “We tell Salvador, obviously.” Charles responds, looking around the room for the doctor. Sierra frowns. “That’s it? We just sentence ten people to death and just let the doctor know? Where’s your humanity?” “Oh, sorry I forgot I’m supposed to react exactly like you. Taking hours to read a file and preventing me from seeing my daughter.” Charles responds, sarcastically. Charles spots Salvador and motions for him to come over, silencing Sierra’s rebuttal. The doctor briefly looks through the files and nods. “Thank you, I understand this wasn’t easy. I’ll get someone to escort you out once I deliver the news.” He says, before marching away. Charles shakes his head. “We need a distraction.” “What? Why?” Cheryl asks. “We came here for supplies, we’re going to leave with supplies.” Charles replies, eyes focused on Salvador’s back. Cheryl gulps. She sees Sara and her mother talking quietly and Michaela laughing with some other survivors. She then notices two men standing by the doors they had entered through. “Well we’re certainly not getting out unsupervised.” She says. Charles nods in thought. “That’s why I’ll distract them.” “What?! How the hell would we sneak out then?!” Sierra whispers, incredulously. “You get a key card and pass it to Cheryl who will get through that door over there.” Charles explains as he points to a door with a small scanner next to it. “While they’re after her we can get out through the original entrance and meet Cheryl in the parking lot.” “Wait what?! No-!” Cheryl starts but is cut off by Charles standing up and storming over to one of the guards and throwing a punch across his face. Chaos immediately breaks out as people attempt to pry Charles away from the scene. Sierra leaps up and runs into the fray, snatching a card off of someone’s shirt. She tosses it to Cheryl who stands frozen. Sara spots the exchange and a look of betrayal crosses her face. “They’re trying to escape!” She screams, pointing towards Cheryl. Cheryl stumbles back as multiple survivors turn to her. She runs to the door and swipes the card, swinging it open. Before she can walks through she turns and locks eyes with Michaela who is holding her phone. Cheryl closes her eyes and forces herself through the door. Bursting in a sprint, Cheryl speeds down the corridor turning to see Salvador and some other doctors chasing after her. She arrives at the stairwell and glances at the map, doing her best to memorise what she can before darting down the stairs. She continues to run down level after level, ignoring the echoing footsteps above her. Once she arrives at the ground floor she bursts into the reception, looking around wildly. Cheryl spots a nearby trolley and jams it against the door, she hears thuds and grunts on the other side as the jogs away to the exit. Cheryl rounds the corner into the parking lot heaving for breath. She spots Sierra and Charles waiting for her as she bends her knees in exhaustion. Charles looks at her grimly and turns to leave. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Sierra asks, walking over to Cheryl and handing her a water bottle. “Back to the hotel, did you want me to wait longer than I already have?” Charles responds blankly. Sierra opens her mouth to respond but freezes at the sound of a gunshot ringing through the streets. It is swiftly followed by screams and shouts. She turns in confusion before running towards the commotion. “Wait, stop!” Charles calls after her. Cheryl looks to Sierra and then back to Charles. She notices to the bags on his back and exhales before chasing after Sierra. Charles sighs in annoyance before following them. “For fuck’s sake.” Other Cast Co-Starring * Mandi Christine Kerr as Emma * Skylar Samuels as Annie * Braeden Lemasters as Sam (No Lines) * Willa Fitzgerald as Megan (No Lines) * Josh Duhamel as Greg * Bruce Blain as Max Meekins * Jessalyn Gilsig as Traci * Yael Yurman as Andrea Danvers (Video) * Anna Cathcart as Heather (Video) * Tati Gabrielle as Michaela * Susanna Thompson as Mrs. Rutherford Uncredited * Laura Beamer as Hannah Rutherford (No Lines) Deaths * Greg Your Rating How would you rate "Trust Me" as a whole? (If it's a low score, I'd love to hear why in the comments.) 10/10 9/10 8/10 7/10 6/10 5/10 4/10 3/10 2/10 1/10 0/10 Trivia * First Appearance of Sara Rutherford. * First Appearance of Traci. * First Appearance of Michaela. * First Appearances of Mrs. Rutherford. * First Appearance of Hannah Rutherford. * First (and Last) Appearance of Heather. (Video, Unknown) * Last Appearance of Greg. * Last Appearance of Simon Danvers. '' (Video)'' * Last Appearance of Andrea Danvers. '' (Video)''